Bidentitarianism




Well, people wondered where identity politics would end up and here we are: two of the most influential people in the world holding their position purely because of identity politics. Joe Biden wasn’t elected because anybody actually wanted him as president, or thought he would do a good job, or had good policies. He was elected based of his negative identity: he’s not Trump. And Kamala Harris was made Vice President because Joe Biden wanted a woman of colour. End of story.

And of course the forces of Hollywood, the mainstream media, and the Tech giants massed against Donald Trump during the election campaign, not because he had failed on either the domestic or international policy fronts. He had created a booming economy, boosted employment among minority groups, and done the impossible in terms of peace deals in the Middle East. (He was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize [see here].) But he was an outsider, a populist who had not risen through the political ranks through favours for favours, but by appealing directly to the people. Which is why he was the first president to use social media so vigorously. Donald Trump lost the election not because of any policy failures but because he is Donald Trump.

If anyone doubts this, look at what’s happening now. One would think that having seized power Joe Biden and the Democrats would focus on policy and healing the nation, but instead they are still hysterically obsessed with Trump and his supporters. They want to impeach Trump even though it’s impossible to impeach a private citizen. And in moves that go well beyond McCarthyism and deep into Stalinist-type purges, there are calls for anyone associated with Trump to be cancelled, ranging from university professors (see here), to Trump’s lawyer (here), to duly elected members of the Senate(here). There has even been a petition to prevent Trump from getting a book deal with a publisher (here). Cancel, cancel, cancel.

This hypocritical, vengeful, obsessive, fact-free, Stalinist, hysterical attitude needs its own name. I call it Bidentitarianism. It spawns Bidentity politics: the misuse of identity politics for cynical political gain. You saw it here first.

Harry Wiren

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